Machine for rounding



(ModeL) 2Sheets-Sheet 1. i J. s. SEAMAN. J Machine for Rounding, Straightening and' Finishing Rods or Tubes.

No..240,774,g Patented April 2 881;

rLPElERs, PHOTO-LITHOQRAPNER, WASHINGTON, D. C

model)" 'J,- S, SEAMAN, 2Sheets-8het 2. Machine fur Rounding, Straightening and Finishing Rods or Tubes. 7 No. 240,774. Patente ril 26,. I881.

N.PETERB. PHDTD-LITQIDGRRPHER, WASHINGTON DYE.

UNrrnn ATEN'T JOSEPH S. SEAMAN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA MACHINE FOR ROUNDING, STRAIGHTENING, AND FINISHING RODS OR TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,774, dated April 26, 1881.

Application filed November 8, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH S. SEAMAN, of Pittsburg, county of Allegheny, State of Penn sylvania, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Rounding, Straightening, and Finishing Rods or Tubes; and I do hereby declare thefollowin g to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichlike letters indicating like parts- Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a top-plan view of my improved rounding and straightening machine, the cap of one of the housings being removed. Fig. 2 is a diagram or outline view of one of the feed-rolls. Fig. 3, Sheet 2, shows, in elevation, one end of the machine; and Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view through the housin g in the plane of the line 00 00, Fig. 3.

My present invention relates to certain improvements in that class of machines referred to in patent granted to me June 26, 1877, N o.

192,460 and it consists, in general terms, in

the form and relative arrangement of the rolls, and in the means of adjustment by which this arrangement is secured and the machine is adapted to operate upon rods of different size.

In the drawings, A represents a bed-plate, on which are erected roll frames or housings A, consisting of uprights a and caps to. One of these caps is removed in Fig. 1 for the purpose of better illustrating other features of the machine.

Four collared rolls, 0 O and 0 O, are employed in the machine, which, as shown in the patent above referred to, have their bearings in the housings A, and are adapted and arranged as two side working-rolls, O O, and top and bottom guide-rolls O O. The workingrolls are geared to rotate in the same direction by any suitable arrangement of gearing, that shown consisting of driving-shaft'B, two counter or roll shafts, B, one under and parallel with each of the working-rolls. The shaft 13 is geared to each of shafts B by bevel-gearing b bb b, the wheels b'b being secured on shaft B by keys to working in groove 'w.. At the opposite end of the machine the shafts B are each geared to the superposedroll by pinions (Modeh) D carriedon the roll-necks and on the ends of the shafts. Such an arrangement of gearing permits of the desired range of adjustment of the working rolls 0 0 toward and from each other, and still retains the requisite engagement of gear-wheels without moving or resetting them.

The new features which I have introduced in the arrangement of the rolls consist in mounting the two working-rolls O G with their axes parallel and in the same plane, and the upper and lower guide-rolls, O 0, one orboth, are arranged to cross the line of feed; andif both are thus inclined, they cross the line of feed in opposite directions. By this arrangement the two geared working-rolls O G take an equal bearing in straight lines through their collars c on the rod S, Fig. 3, throughout their entire length, and consequently their action on the rod in rounding and straightening it is more perfect and uniform than when oneor both of the working-rolls cross the line of feed, as heretofore arranged in this class of self-feed.- in g machines. This feature of arrangement 1 consider of importance, since a tendency has been found toexistinmachines havingtheworkin g-rolls crossed to produce rods slightly tapering or larger at one end than at the other.

The presentfeature ofparallel arrangement of these rolls is designed to overcome such difliculty by securing the same or equal reducing action throughout the whole length of the rolls. If a straight-faced roll cross the line of feed, its

greatest bearing on a rod in such line will,

mathematically speaking, be at the crossingpoint, and while the bearing from such point toward either end may be reduced by the divergence, of the roll or rolls sufficiently to cause the irregularity in form of the rod referred to, when such divergence is in the working-rolls, yet in practice, in small-sized machines having comparatively short rolls, sufficient bearingpressure is left under ordinary adjustments to give the desired feed, and I utilize the same for such purpose by crossing the guide-rolls'O, as described. Heretofore the main function of these guide-rolls has been to direct and keep the rod in place between the working-rolls I and to prevent bulging, and thereby secure proper compression of the Working-rolls; and I have found that the guide-rolls may be crossed or thrown out of line sufficiently to secure the desired feed and still retain sufficient pressure on the rod through the whole or greater part of their length to insure the proper performance of the several functions which they have heretofore performed. In short, by my improved arrangement I secure equal action on the rod throughout the length of the workingrolls, which are the principal factors in accomplishing the work required, and such inequalities in pressure as are involved in crossing the rolls are found only in the guide-rolls, which are not thereby rendered less efficient practically in performing the functions heretofore required of such rolls.

l have also introduced another feature of improvement in the form of these feed-rolls that is, I have graduallyincreased their diameters measured to the peripheries of successive collars c from the receiving toward the delivery end. This feature is illustrated clearly in the diagram in Fig. 2 and in the upper guideroll, Fig. 1. I have also represented both the taper and inclination of the rolls in Fig. 2 by dotted lines. This increase in successive collars may be uniform forsmall-sized machines, giving a straight though diverging line along the surfacein the direction of the length of the roll; but in the larger-sized machines, having longer rolls, 1 increase the diameters of these successive collars c in such degrees or amounts that for an average, size of rod, with the usual inclination of the feed rolls, all the collars throughout the length of these rolls may bear upon the rod to an equal degree. Such construction will give an inwardly-curved line along the surface in the direction of the rolls length, as illustrated in detached view, Fig. 2, with the smallest collar at the receiving and the largest at the delivery end, and all the collars will bear upon the rod, though in a slightly spiral direction around the rod, instead of in a straight line along its length, as in the working-rolls. The purpose of this enlargement of the feed-rolls toward the delivery end is to give the peripheries of the larger collars arelatively faster movement on the rod. It is well-known that the compression and straightening of the rod by the rolls causes some extension in its length. This extension takes place within the rolls while subjected to their action, and the relatively-increased speed toward the delivery end of the rolls above described is designed to pass or take up such extension with a rotary movement Without causing the rod to slip endwise between the collars, as has heretofore been the case. Such slipping, although small in amount, has resulted in a grinding or tearing action of the rolls sufficient to rend and injure light pipes and tubes, and give the surhigh polish and finish desired.

In patent granted to me October 6, 1874,

N 0. 155,760, I have described the use of feed working-rolls having a smaller diameter in the middle than at the ends, and while such feedrolls might be used for guide-rolls in my present invention, and secure thereby a bearing through the whole or greater part of their roll a concave or inwardly-curved face in the direction of its length. In practice the deflection or concavity of this surface is comparatively small, and in Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown this feature somewhat magnified or exaggerated, for the purpose ofshowin g it more clearly.

With a machine embodying the features of improvement herein described-viz., first, parallelism of working-rolls with crossing of guide-rolls for feed; second, increasing the size of collars on the feed-rolls toward the delivery end; and, third, making such increase so as to give such rolls the concave surface describedI secure much more perfect and satisfactory results in uniformity, polish, and finish than has heretofore been secured on such machines.

In order to adapt the machine to operate upon rods of different sizes, I make use of the following means of adjusting the rolls: The several roll-necks are journaled in movable blocks D D E E. The lower journal-blocks, E, rest upon the bed A, and are supported laterally by blocksF F, one on either side, which are arranged to slide on the base A toward and from the block E, and are operated and held by screws f, working through the uprights a, Fig. 3; These sliding blocks F are held as againstlateraldisplacementby tongues e on the slides (see Fig. 4) fitting in the rabbeted grooves e in the bed A, and by plates or flanges d, extending downward from blocks D, against the inner faces of the slides. The blocks D rest upon the sliding-blocks F. Their rear or outer faces are inclined upward, and between them and the uprights a are adjusted wedge-shaped blocks D, which are drawn upward and held in place by L-bolts, m, which extend upward through slots 1" in the blocks H and through the caps a. The j ournal-blocks D are also held back against the wedges D by L-bolts m. By this means the workingrolls can be adjusted toward and from each other.

Between the blocks D and caps a are placed endwise-sliding blocks H H, which are moved and held from the outer ends by bolts h, and are held against the under faces of the caps and against lateral displacement by dovetail tongues 13, working in similarly-shaped grooves t; also by tongues n, on the inner bottom edge (see Fig. 4) and grooves 7t, and upwardly-extending flanges or plates at, the grooves and flanges n d being formed in and on the inner edges of journal-blocks D. This arrangement of tongues, grooves, and plates between the several journal and sliding blocks gives them mutual support and security as against lateral displacement.

Vertical adjustment is given to the upper journal-blocks, E, by l -bolts 0, which pass through slots 0 in the slides H and through the caps a, and by set-screws 7c. The lower guide-roll is raised and lowered as required by means of liners under its journal-blocks E. By the means described the feed-rolls G C may be adjusted at either end in either a vertical or horizontal direction.

In orderthat sliding blocks H and F may have uniform bearin g against the blocks E E under the various inclinations and adj ustments which may be given the feed-rolls, I round theirinner ends, as at s, Fig. 1, and make corresponding concave sockets s in the adjacent faces of the blocks, in which the rounded ends of the slides take their bearings. This feature of construction is the same in both the upper and lower roll-bearings, though I have deemed it sufticent to show itin fullin the upper bearing, Fig. 1. Such form of bearing also serves to hold the journal-blocks E E in place on the roll-journals, and I consider it an important improvement in the means for adjusting this class of rolls. By means of these adjustments the rolls may be set with relation to each other as hereinbefore described, so as to operate upon rods of any desired size within the structural capacity of the machine, and also they may be set to make either great or slight reduction of the rod in a single pass.

In cases where considerable reduction is desired with a well-finished product, the increase of size of collars toward the delivery end of the machine, as hereinbefore described, will be found especially useful in passing the extension in length of the rod caused by reduction, and, if desired, such feature of construction may be adapted in the working-rolls C 0, though for ordinary work I prefer working-rolls of uniform diameters, and arrange them as hereinbefore described.

I claim herein as my invention- 1'. In combination with a pair of workingrolls, 0 0, arranged lengthwise on opposite sides of and-parallel with the line of feed, a pair of collared feed-rolls arranged midway between rolls 0, on opposite sides of the line of feed, but crossing the same in opposite directions, the collars on such feed-rolls being gradually increased in diameter from the receiving to the delivery end of the rolls, substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for rounding, straightening, and finishing rods or tubes, apair of feed-rolls, O 0, arranged lengthwise on opposite sides of theline of feed, but crossing such line in opposite directions such rolls having their working-faces made hollowing or concave in the direction of their length, and formed of a succession of collars which increase in diameter from the receiving to the-delivery end of the rolls, in combination with a pair of collared rolls arranged midway between the first-mentioned rolls, on opposite sides of and parallel with the line of ieed,substantially as setforth.

3. In combination with housing A and feedrolls 0 G, and as a means for adjusting the rolls in a horizontal plane to varying inclinations across the line of feed, the journal-blocks E E, having concave sockets s in their outer side faces in the plane of the housing, sliding blocks H F, having rounded ends 5, adapted to fit in the sockets s, and suitable means for sustaining the blocks endwise and vertically, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with housings A and rolls 0 O, the journal-blocks E E, blocks F, arranged to slide on the bed of the housings and bear against journal-blocks E, wedges D, arranged between journal-blocks D and uprights a, sliding blocks H, adapted to slide by tongueand-groove connection on the under face of caps a and bear against the blocks E, and suitable bolts and set-screws for operating and holding the several blocks within the housings, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOSEPH S. SEAMAN.

Witnesses:

R. H. WHITTLESEY, O. L. PARKER. 

